File 06 · MMORPG review
Old School RuneScape
Deliberately old-fashioned, endlessly deep, and steered by the votes of the people who play it.
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score
Old School RuneScape looks like a museum piece and plays like a hobby. It began as a restored 2007 version of RuneScape and has grown ever since under an unusual rule: most proposed updates go to a player poll and need a large majority to pass. The result is a game that changes carefully, with a community that feels ownership of it.
There are no classes. Your character is the sum of its skills, from Woodcutting and Fishing to Slayer and Construction, each trained through its own activities. Sailing, added in November 2025 and the first brand-new skill in the game’s history, opened up a whole ocean of islands for members. Quests are hand-written, funny and frequently clever, more like short adventure games than checklists. Goals are self-set: earn a particular cape, finish a quest line, defeat a boss that seemed impossible a month ago.
The official mobile app is the quiet triumph. It is the full game, sharing the same character as the desktop client, and many skills suit a phone perfectly. That makes this one of the few deep online games that genuinely fits around a working week. For a different flavour, Ironman mode removes trading and turns the whole world into a self-sufficiency challenge.
Be ready for the pace. Progress is slow by design, the interface is dated and the game explains little; the community wiki is practically part of the client. The free area shows the style well, but most of the map, skills and quests sit behind membership. If the rhythm clicks, few games give back as much for the time you put in.
Score breakdown
A short tutorial island, then complete freedom — which is both the charm and the hurdle.
Click-based and deliberate. Skills, quests and bosses all feed each other.
Twenty-four skills including the new Sailing, hundreds of hand-written quests and raids that take months to master.
Free area is substantial; membership is a plain subscription with no gameplay advantages sold.
Runs on anything, and the official mobile client is superb.
Scores are our editorial opinion. How the weighting works.
What stands out, what to weigh up
Stands out
- Same character on desktop and mobile
- Witty, hand-crafted quests
- Players vote on updates
- Goals are entirely your own
Weigh up
- Slow progression by design
- Dated interface
- Best content needs membership
In-game screenshots
Official images © Jagex, shown for the purpose of review.
Your first session: four tips
- Do the early quests
Cook’s Assistant, Sheep Shearer and Romeo & Juliet teach the map and hand out useful experience.
- Set one small goal
A full set of steel armour or level 30 Fishing gives direction without a guide open on a second screen.
- Secure your account
Enable two-step verification on day one. Long-lived accounts are valuable, so protect yours.
- Install the mobile app
Skills like Fishing and Fletching are ideal for short breaks, and progress carries straight over.
Our verdict · 8.6 / 10
An acquired taste worth acquiring. Try the free area for a week; if you are still logging in, you may have found your forever game.
Best for: Patient players who like long goals
